The U.S. Secret Service uncovered a suspicious hunting stand with an unobstructed view of where President Donald Trump exits Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport , Fox News Digital has reported.
Agents discovered the stand on Thursday. The FBI confirmed they are leading an investigation into the structure.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the hunting stand has not yet been connected to any individual.
“Prior to the President’s return to West Palm Beach, USSS discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone,” Patel told Fox News Digital, reports the Express US.
“No individuals were located at the scene. The FBI has since taken the investigatory lead, flying in resources to collect all evidence from the scene, and deploying our cell phone analytics capabilities.”
USSS chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi disclosed agents found the hunting stand whilst conducting their “advance security preparations” ahead of Trump’s arrival in Palm Beach this weekend.
“There was no impact to any movements and no individuals were present or involved at the location,” Guglielmi said.
A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that the stand appeared to have been constructed “months ago.”
The increased security measures follow the September incident when Donald Trump became the target of what the FBI characterised as “appears to be an attempted assassination” at his golf course.
Just nine weeks after surviving another attempt on his life, the Republican presidential nominee was at a club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
The former president confirmed he was safe and well, and a man was taken into custody by authorities.
U.S. Secret Service agents, stationed a few holes away from where Trump was playing, spotted the muzzle of an AK-style rifle protruding through the course’s shrubbery, approximately 400 yards away.
An agent responded with gunfire, causing the gunman to abandon the rifle and flee in an SUV.
He left behind two backpacks, a scope used for aiming, and a GoPro camera, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
Law enforcement later apprehended the man in a neighbouring county.
This incident marks the latest unsettling event in a campaign year characterised by unprecedented turmoil.
On July 13, Trump was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, with a bullet grazing his ear.
Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee. The situation has sparked fresh queries about Secret Service protective operations, following the agency’s confessed shortcomings in thwarting last summer’s assassination attempt.
The trend of political violence persists, as evidenced by this summer’s targeted killing of conservative host Charlie Kirk.
